Various types of supports are in existence on which a body can be rested. One type of support includes a plurality of inflatable pillows or chambers. These are arranged adjacent one another so that the weight of the body to be supported can rest across the surface that the pillows or chambers define. Such an arrangement has advantages in the sick room or hospital environment since the weight of a patient lying on the support is distributed across the various pillows. The pillows conform to the contour of the body thus supporting the body at more points than a conventional mattress. This means that each contact point will support less weight, thus there will be less pressure on the patient at each of these points. This has the advantage of reducing the occurrence of "bed sores" or skin ulcers. Air support mattresses of this general type are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,203 to Murray discloses an air support mattress comprised of a plurality of inflatable chambers interconnected such that the chambers are inflated in a serpentine fashion in a single direction. The Murray mattress does not include a means to inflate only selected chambers. Further, individual chambers cannot be replaced in the mattress disclosed in the Murray reference since they are share walls with adjacent chambers. That is, Murray does not disclose a mattress comprised of separate, replaceable pillows.
Many available air support mattresses such as the Murray mattress are limited in the nature of the support environment in that they are static, i.e., once the chambers or pillows are inflated, they remain inflated at the same pressure and at the same height. A pulsating type of mattress support is available in which every other pillow of the mattress are alternately.
German Patent 876760 illustrates another air support mattress having interconnected chambers. The chambers, however, also appear to suffer from the disadvantage that they are not removable and replaceable. Also, there is no indication as to the portability of such a mattress. Further, the extent to which the chambers can be selectively inflated is unclear.